Happy Halloween!

I bet you clicked on this post thinking you might see a picture of James and I in our Halloween costumes.  We didn't do any of that this year, unfortunately, but I did make a few things with pumpkin (on different days) that were really yummy so I'm posting the recipes, in case anybody out there has half a can of pumpkin, doin' nothin', in their fridge like I did.

My mom's friend made these delicious pumpkin cookies and I had to get the recipe and make some for myself.  They are SO good.  A little different that the traditional pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, which I am a fan of, but James is not.

Pumpkin Cookies
2 C flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
2/3 C sugar
1/2 C chopped walnuts
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg
1 C butter
1 C pumpkin 

Combine all ingredients.  Mix well.  Drop by teaspoons on a cookie sheet.  I like cookie sheet with parchment paper. 

Icing
1/2 C brown sugar
4 T milk
3 T butter
1 C powdered sugar
3/4 tsp vanilla

Combine first 3 ingredients in a bowl.  Stir for 2 minutes.  Cool and add remaining ingredients.  Frost cooled cookies.  You should refrigerate these cookies.

The next recipe is from the evil Martha Stewart, who I have a love/hate relationship with.  Sometimes her recipes are phenomonal.  Sometimes they are terribly disappointing.  And you never know.  And you usually have to buy special ingredients.  The picture in the book has nothing to do with it, I have learned this.  But somehow she keeps me coming back for more.  This recipe is one of the good ones.

I forgot to take a picture of mine, I stole the picture from this blog. 

Pumpkin-Brown Butter Cupcakes
3/4 C butter
1 2/3 C flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp cloves
1 C pumpkin
1 C brown sugar
1/2 C sugar
2 eggs

Preheat over to 325.  Brush muffin tins with butter, then dust with flour (I used Wilton Cake Release which works awesome).  In a saucepan, melt butter over medium heat and cook, swirling occasionally, until butter turns golden brown.  Skim foam from top and remove from heat.  Pour into a bowl to stop the cooking, leaving any burned sediment behind; let cool.

Whisk together dry ingredients.  In another bowl, whisk together the pumpkin, sugars, eggs and brown butter.  Add flour mixture and whisk just until combined.

Fill muffin tins 2/3-3/4 full, bake for 20 mins, rotating halfway through (I have to do this because my oven is not real consistent).

Brown-Butter Icing
1/2 C butter
2 C powdered sugar
2 tsp vanilla
2 T milk, plus more if needed
(Brown the butter the same as before) In a saucepan, melt butter over medium heat and cook, swirling occasionally, until butter turns golden brown. Skim foam from top and remove from heat. Pour into a bowl, leaving any burned sediment behind.

Add remaining ingredients, stir until smooth and add more milk if necessary to get the desired consistency.  Use immediately. 




The third recipe was Pumpkin Griddle Cakes, which I got from my friend Sara's food blog.  And they were delicious!  She also has a recipe for Nutella Pumpkin Muffins, which I would like to try, but then I would open another huge can of pumpkin and the cycle would start all over again.  And I'm not running like I used to.